I've owned my 2005 for about 4 months or so and have not seen any coolant puking or evidence of previous puking. Right after I purchased the truck (104k) I did the Restore/Restore plus and CAT ELC change out.
I had an episode of turbo underboost and EGR flow issue as well as chronic FICM low voltage, so I did another full Restore and Restore plus flush prior to doing the turbo clean, EGR/intake clean, oil cooler rebuild, BPD EGR cooler, updated blue spring, STC fitting, 6.4 banjo, Swamps FICM, turbo oil supply and drain upgrade, and CCV mod. When I pulled the intake and EGR they were pretty crudded up, so I suspect that the EGR cooler may have been leaking - the crud was very sticky - almost like tar. I never saw any steam (or white smoke) leaving the tailpipe prior to the fixes.
Truck seems to be runnning well after the work - now all I get is a U code (FICM and PCM have different software - code is to be expected) and a IAT high input code (did all the factory service manual troubleshooting which lead me to replace the IAT/MAF, but I still have the code - I guess I have an intermittent wiring issue that I haven't resolved)
Here is where I am today - I just got back from a trip to Utah pulling a 12k or so 5th wheel. Didn't have any problem pulling the multi-mile 7% grades going from Denver up to Eisenhower tunnel or Vail pass, but I did try to take it easy (down to 45 mph in some cases) and keep the EGTs below 1100 - 1200 as much as possible. However, I did experience some puking when getting up to speed on I-70 in Utah on a long gradual uphill grade. I had pulled over to help a friend who had run out of gas, and I was pushing a little harder than normal when a trucker told me one of my bikes was falling off the bike rack. I pulled into a rest area and was working on the bike when the wife noticed steam coming out from under the hood I had rigged up a coolant pressure gauge (as described by PowerStrokeTech on the forum) and my pressure was right at 15- 16 and I heard some venting sounds. I don't think I lost much coolant puking from degas, but I added a quart or so of distilled water and kept going. While camped and cooled down in Utah I added about 1 more quart of water. One the way back from Utah I noticed coolant smell and heard some venting going up Vail pass and added about 1 more quart of water at Frisco. Now that I am home I have added another quart of water. I gave the degas and surrounding areas a hose down to remove the dried on coolant, and I do not see any evidence of continued puking, but I do still smell coolant. (may need to be hosed down some more)
Before the trip I had monitored the coolant pressure for a few weeks, and the gauge would slowly rise up to 10 - 12 psi under most circumstances, ocassionally going as high as 15 psi, but I never heard any venting or lost any coolant. When I would really get on the go pedal, the pressure would rise a little bit, but it would not immediately jump up to 16 psi as I have seen videos of showing how a bad head gasket reacts to WOT. Now that I am back from the trip, the coolant pressure does not jump up when I hammer it - it acts as it had prior to the trip. It does gradually rise up to 15 psi after the engine gets up to temperature. Also, I have a new degas bottle cap and the pressure gauge shows that the cap is operating as it should.
So.... What is your opinion? Do I have bad headgaskets or was pulling the heavy load up steep long grades a contributor to localized coolant boiling (especially considering the elevation in some cases) causing the excess pressure? By the way I am running a SCT tuner with Eric's tow tune.
Thanks for your thoughts...
MikeB
I had an episode of turbo underboost and EGR flow issue as well as chronic FICM low voltage, so I did another full Restore and Restore plus flush prior to doing the turbo clean, EGR/intake clean, oil cooler rebuild, BPD EGR cooler, updated blue spring, STC fitting, 6.4 banjo, Swamps FICM, turbo oil supply and drain upgrade, and CCV mod. When I pulled the intake and EGR they were pretty crudded up, so I suspect that the EGR cooler may have been leaking - the crud was very sticky - almost like tar. I never saw any steam (or white smoke) leaving the tailpipe prior to the fixes.
Truck seems to be runnning well after the work - now all I get is a U code (FICM and PCM have different software - code is to be expected) and a IAT high input code (did all the factory service manual troubleshooting which lead me to replace the IAT/MAF, but I still have the code - I guess I have an intermittent wiring issue that I haven't resolved)
Here is where I am today - I just got back from a trip to Utah pulling a 12k or so 5th wheel. Didn't have any problem pulling the multi-mile 7% grades going from Denver up to Eisenhower tunnel or Vail pass, but I did try to take it easy (down to 45 mph in some cases) and keep the EGTs below 1100 - 1200 as much as possible. However, I did experience some puking when getting up to speed on I-70 in Utah on a long gradual uphill grade. I had pulled over to help a friend who had run out of gas, and I was pushing a little harder than normal when a trucker told me one of my bikes was falling off the bike rack. I pulled into a rest area and was working on the bike when the wife noticed steam coming out from under the hood I had rigged up a coolant pressure gauge (as described by PowerStrokeTech on the forum) and my pressure was right at 15- 16 and I heard some venting sounds. I don't think I lost much coolant puking from degas, but I added a quart or so of distilled water and kept going. While camped and cooled down in Utah I added about 1 more quart of water. One the way back from Utah I noticed coolant smell and heard some venting going up Vail pass and added about 1 more quart of water at Frisco. Now that I am home I have added another quart of water. I gave the degas and surrounding areas a hose down to remove the dried on coolant, and I do not see any evidence of continued puking, but I do still smell coolant. (may need to be hosed down some more)
Before the trip I had monitored the coolant pressure for a few weeks, and the gauge would slowly rise up to 10 - 12 psi under most circumstances, ocassionally going as high as 15 psi, but I never heard any venting or lost any coolant. When I would really get on the go pedal, the pressure would rise a little bit, but it would not immediately jump up to 16 psi as I have seen videos of showing how a bad head gasket reacts to WOT. Now that I am back from the trip, the coolant pressure does not jump up when I hammer it - it acts as it had prior to the trip. It does gradually rise up to 15 psi after the engine gets up to temperature. Also, I have a new degas bottle cap and the pressure gauge shows that the cap is operating as it should.
So.... What is your opinion? Do I have bad headgaskets or was pulling the heavy load up steep long grades a contributor to localized coolant boiling (especially considering the elevation in some cases) causing the excess pressure? By the way I am running a SCT tuner with Eric's tow tune.
Thanks for your thoughts...
MikeB